The invention relates to a one-piece cable clamp with a base, which can be fixed to a carrier part, a bearing surface formed on this base for a cable or a bundle of cables to be fixed, and a clamp cover, which is joined to the base by a flexible strip and which encloses the cable or bundle of cables that can engage with the base.
Such a cable clamp is known from DE 26 26 412. Two opposing limbs project at a right angle from the clamp cover of this cable clamp. The outer surfaces of these limbs are ribbed with a sawtooth shape. In the base, openings with catch means are provided on both sides of the bearing surface formed on the base for the cable or the bundle of cables. After a cable or a bundle of cables has been placed on the bearing surface, the clamp cover is bent onto the connecting strip between the clamp cover and the base and its limbs are inserted into the openings next to the bearing surface. The clamp cover can be pressed down until the cable or bundle of cables is clamped tight between the cover and the bearing surface and the catch means of the openings engage the ribs of the limbs at a corresponding height. For this purpose, the limbs are formed such that they bend inward and underneath the base when they contact the carrier part. Thus, the cable can be locked at a number of different heights on the limbs and the clamp adapts to different diameters of the cable or bundle of cables.
A disadvantage of this cable clamp is that it cannot be disengaged again if it is necessary to set the cable or the bundle of cables free again and possibly to mount them again to the same cable clamp. The known cable clamp must be destroyed, thus made unusable, and replaced by a new clamp to achieve these tasks.
A two-part cable clamp with a U-shaped foundation or base is known from French Patent No. 2,130,753. Here, the bent floor of the U forms the bearing surface for the cable or the bundle of cables and the inner surfaces of both U limbs have transversely extending ribs. A separate plunger with an essentially rectangular base surface is equipped on its two narrow sides with ribs corresponding to the ribs of the U limbs. The plunger also has a central opening with internal threads which opens on the bottom side into a recess, which is suitable for receiving a pressure plate. In the opening, a fixing screw is screwed in, with which the pressure plate is connected tightly by a pin. After a cable or a bundle of cables has been placed on the floor surface of the U-shaped foundation, the plunger is inserted between the U limbs and, so that the plunger is held, its ribbed narrow sides are offset by 90° relative to the ribbed U limbs. As soon as the bottom side of the plunger or the pressure plate which remains drawn into the plunger comes into contact with the cable or the bundle of cables, the plunger is turned 90°, so that the ribs of the plunger engage with those of the U limbs. Then the fixing screw is tightened, which moves the pressure plate out from the plunger to contact the cable or the bundle of cables with pressure. Through corresponding notches in the bottom side of the pressure plate, this cable clamp can be used for cables with different diameters. Disadvantages of this cable clamp are that it consists of two separate parts, which are not connected to each other, so that there is still the risk of losing a part, and also the rather difficult and time-consuming manipulation involved with its assembly. The cable clamp, which can be used for various cable diameters through a plurality of notches in the bottom side of the plunger, is also very complicated and makes the production of the device more expensive. Here, the clamp can be adapted only to fixed diameters given by the shape of the notches, thus it is not continuously adjustable.
There exists a need for a one-piece cable clamp, which is simple and reliable in its use and manipulation, which can also be disengaged and then reused easily and without causing damage. A cable should be held tightly by the clamp in its closed state, such that the cable cannot move in the clamp, and thus also relative to the carrier part.
However, the cable clamp should also be able to be disassembled again in a simple way, without damaging the cable itself or the cable clamp. In addition, there should be the ability to secure rigidly and also to disassemble several cables with different diameters with minimum space requirements on a carrier part.